Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most
important castles, both historically and architecturally, in Scotland. The
castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the
Stirling Sill geological formation. It is surrounded on three sides by steep
cliffs, giving it a strong defensive position. Its strategic location, guarding
what was, until the 1890s, the farthest downstream crossing of the River Forth,
has made it an important fortification from the earliest times. Most of the
principal buildings of the castle date from the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries.

A few structures of the fourteenth century remain, while the outer defences
fronting the town date from the early eighteenth century. Several Scottish Kings
and Queens have been crowned at Stirling, including Mary, Queen of Scots, in
1542. There have been at least eight sieges of Stirling Castle, including
several during the Wars of Scottish Independence, with the last being in 1746,
when Bonnie Prince Charlie unsuccessfully tried to take the castle. Stirling
Castle is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, and is now a tourist attraction managed
by Historic Scotland. - in: wikipedia